Earth Centered Inertial
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The Earth-Centered-Inertial (ECI) Frame is a non-rotating version of the (ECEF) frame. The ECI frame is identical to the ECEF frame at some instant in time. The ECI frame is a convenient inertial frame for which Newton's second law is valid, and thus is popular for calculating aerospace dynamics.
[edit] Application
The location of an object in space can be defined in terms of right ascension and declination which are measured from the vernal equinox and the celestial equator. A practical reference frame can be defined with the x-axis aligned with the Earth's Mean Equator and Equinox for Year 2000, the y-axis rotated by 90o East about the celestial equator and the z-axis aligned with the celestial North Pole. This gives the reference frame known as EME2000, which for aerospace applications can be considered as the Earth Centred Inertial Frame.
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